also the government releases the unemployment report for november this morning. marilyn geewax of npr will tell us what the numbers mean for the economy. >> in the next few months, will be up to the president and his party to work with us to deliver the same kind of bipartisan resolution on spending that we have now achieved on taxes. but it needs to happen before the 11th hour. >> good morning senate republican leader mitch mcconnell trying to set the tone yesterday as lawmakers sworn into office during a day that was largely ceremonial. this friday january 4th and on day two of this 113th congress, the house and senate will convene this afternoon for one of its constitutional duties. counting the electoral college vote and certifying the

reelection of the president. we'll have live coverage here on c-span. [video clip] -- vice president biden will preside over it. the question we're asking this morning, will this congress be any different? you can join the conversation giving us a call at 202-737-0001 and 202-737-0002 for republicans and for independents is 202-628-0205. join the conversation social media and facebook. or send us an e-mail. we'll continue to show you the numbers. let's look at some of the headlines on this friday morning beginning with the washington times. returns as speaker by 3 votes, ten republicans support in the

113th congress. likely but not feared, boehner keeps the job. some might ask why he won. she points out mr. boehner 63 years old from ohio vote yesterday was a warning shot from conservative members of the house. sobering reminder while he may hold one of the most powerful jobs in washington, his power is greatly diminished and his republican ranks are thinner in new congress. meanwhile russell burman has this story online, the headline failed coo effort against boehner. he point out a group of dissident republicans failing yesterday to push congressman john boehner to second election as speaker and potentially replace him as leader of the

house. the defections same has a moment for boehner. both of his handling of fiscal cliff legislation and scrapping vote for hurricane sandy relief bill. there is the editorial this morning. this is from the washington times. the editorial concludes with these words, when republican regained control of the house two years ago, they opened the new congress with members reading the entire u.s. constitution aloud on the floor for the first time. a spokesman say they will continue the tradition on january 14th. will this congress be any different? that's our question and dave is joining us from rome, georgia,

democrat line good morning. caller: , i actually don't believe the congress will be any better. john boehner allowed the house to vote its will for the simple fact, if you have people up there who are against government, they are basically up there on the republican side in order to get their check like joe walsh and people like this who got voted out. everyone gets unemployment checks. everyone draws social security. the difference republicans trying to make it seem like it's democrats. when you do that as democrat, you help everyone in the country. when you protect their rights. you got to work together but the republicans seem like they're trying to protect the interest of big business. if they want to cut medicare and social security, why don't they say it. they know it's not the will of

the people. host: we're asking question, with a yes or no, will this congress be any different so far? seven say yes, 36 say no. you can adyour voice and comments and share with them in the next 45 minutes. keith is joining us from youngsville, louisiana. line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i was just thinking maybe the suits need to quit putting money in their pockets and start spending it on what it needs to be spent on and quit going on vacation and do their jobs. host: lucy from mcclain, virginia, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. the question is will this congress be different? i certainly hope so. i hope that the way it's perceived will be different. i hope and pray that finally

people will realize how serious it is this 16.4 trillion dollars debt is and the democrats, don't seem to be bothered by it. if this country survive and be strong, we need to reduce this debt. we need to work together to cause that to happen. i commend john boehner for his leadership and his sincerity. i hope people are going to trust that -- the only way for this country do recover economically, is for us to allow the economy to grow and reduce the deficit. thank you. host: meanwhile david rogers of politico with some legislative issue on the agenda today for the house of representatives. if you swapped our coverage following the debate over the fiscal cliff, late in into the

evening on new year's eve day there was a ruck cuss over the issue of hurricane sandy and $16 billion to help the hurricane victims along the coast of new york, new jersey and connecticut. the house is to take up the bill on friday. house republicans are moving quickly to win approval this week of $9.7 billion in increased financing to pay for flood insurance claims arising from the storm in october, the measure filed thursday for floor action today would temporarily raise the bar on authority for the national flood insurance program, which is now expected to hit its ceiling some time next week. congressman garrett republican of new jersey fiscal cliff is lead sponsor. we have live coverage getting under way at 10:00 eastern time. as the house convenes this morning and live coverage of the

joint session will get under way early this afternoon as house and senate take up their other constitutional duty which is certifying the election of president obama vice president biden. caller: good morning, i am hoping that president obama will stick to what he has said and not allow them to gut social security, medicare and medicaid. i'm hoping that we can get to the point where he can find a way to go around them with another fiscal cliff. we can't have this. thank you. host: thanks for the call. fantasia washington post, 113th congress displays its diversity. democratic leader of the house nancy pelosi as she join other

democratic female lawmakers over at the capitol. there are 20 new members of the senate who are also women and the former house speaker democratic leader had this to say about the issue of bipartisanship as she congratulated speaker john boehner for his own reelection. >> speaker boehner, i know all too well that we will not always agree. but i hope with all my heart that we will find common ground that is a higher better place for our country. surely, we can be touched by the better angels of our nature. surely we can be touched by the better angels of our nature. so beautifully expressed by president lincoln. host: representative nancy pelosi and this from the "washington journal" boehner's second chance. let me share with you a portion what the journal is writing this morning on its editorial page. john boehner was reelected as the house speaker on thursday

avoiding a second vote after 12 republican members voted for others or not at all. the question we'd ask why in the world does he want the job? mr.boehner hopes to accomplish what he will do differently in the 113th congress the speaker and the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell have accomplished little in two years beyond checking liberal ambitions. there's this conclusion from the "washington journal" editorial, mr. boehner needs a applausable counter strategy recognizing he cannot govern from the house and the power of the hurricane -- purse to see what policy victors can be had. will the tone be different? will any legislative accomplishments be different? clay is joining us from amarrillo, texas, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning.

thank you for letting me come on to your program and governor you -- give you my points of view about congress. congress will not do anything different for what it been doing for the last two years. our votes what it really count for. special interest groups, lobbyist and powers. congress is reacting out of fear right now because if something doesn't change, there is going to be a change coming regardless whether they want it or not. american people are fed up with the situation that congress has become. they need to cooperate. do what they get paid for, pass legislative laws that are beneficial to the american people. we are the american people and we count but they don't seem to think so. host: bill king has this on our

twitter page. you can join the conversation. the president should call the bluff of the house and say okay, let's cut spending, say 35% from defense. think they'll agree? roll call.com had this story, minority leader nancy pelosi handing the speaker the house the gavel manager his own -- marking his own reelection. boehner securing the votes to retain the gavel but not without the signature intraparty drama. the speaker remains the de facto face of the republican party for the next two years but there is no sign the rancor of the past two is behind him. that story from rollcall.com. judy is joining us from garland, texas from democrats line go

ahead. caller: hello. i really hope congress is better than this term than last term. they really need to vote their conscious and not party line. i speak for democrats and republicans. host: judy how do you fix it? what's your prescription for reform? >> once they get the american people back to work and middle class, i don't think middle class will mind a tax hike. i really don't. but with the way the economy is now, people can't afford it. host: okay, we'll go to john joining us next from illinois, go ahead please. caller: thank you for taking my call. one of the things that concerns me, they want to pass a bill for sandy, which i think is great. but, they put all of this -- why not just stick with the issue? they put all of this pork in.

this is part of the problem with the way things are run. with the one caller, the democrat, wanting obama to go around congress. that's not the way we do things in this country. it very disturbing, i'm a republican out of chicago, i just do not agree with the way they do things. it seems illegal and totally wrong. host: okay. john thanks for the call. lot ceremony yesterday as members of congress and miami februaries on -- congress and many family members on hand. there are 13 members in the new senate. there were these remarks by the speaker of the house, john boehner. >> put simply, we're sent here not to be something but to do

something. [applause]. or as i like to call it, doing the right thing. it's a big job and it comes with big challenges. our government has built up too much debt. our economy is not producing enough jobs and these are not separate problems. at $16 trillion and rying our national debt is draining free enterprise and weakening the ship of state. the american dream is in peril. it gets weighed down by this anchor of debt. we begin to set our economy free and jobs will come home and confidence will come back. we do this not just to boost gdp or reduce unemployment but to secure for our children a future

of freedom and opportunity and frankly nothing is more important. host: comments from the speaker of the house john boehner from the house floor as he took the gavel again for the second two year term. headline from the "washington journal," how to tame unruely caucus, carry a big hammer and there's this from our twitter page one our viewers saying, the congress is different, the tone of the congress is not. guest: thank you very much for having me. host: let me get your assessment on whether or not you think tone the legislative agenda of this congress will be different and overall if this congress can be different from the 112th. guest: if you look at the immediate legislative agenda what we're going to see, it's kind of a deja vu all over again.

we finished this big draining battle over fiscal issues over the so called fiscal cliff. we're running up against the debt ceiling. it could be even nastier fight we just saw. democrats say they won't deal on debt limit what they did in the summer of 2011. republicans say, no this is what when we have to cut our spending and get our finances in order and how they resolve this in the next two months will be a very interesting dynamic to watch. in terms of actual tone and the nature of the congress, you've got a lot of democrats will say, you've gotten rid some of the tea party fire brand republicans as they call them and hopefully that would make for more cooperative environment. there are a lot of new members of the congress are elected, they really ran on being cooperative, bipartisan, being problem solvers.

it's so divided congress, we've got a democratic senate and we've got a republican house who really don't see eye on eye on much of anything. i'm not convinced at this point that very partisan nature of congress that we saw for the next two years will be too different now. host: let's look at the members and how they voted and the key that we're looking at are the nine or ten republican who voted for somebody other than the speaker of the house, others like congressman stockman of tech voting present. what signal did this give to speaker boehner and the republican leadership? guest: this is a message that to the speaker, they are not satisfied with the leadership. it's a comment that you would have gotten from any of these members who voted present or voted for someone who is not for boehner. this is, i believe, -- you had

ted a freshman republican who voted for cantor and house majority leader eric cantor saying we're not too happy with the leadership now and this is -- it's important to remember that he was still elected speaker he got the majority of his congress behind him. i think going away quickly and easily, they are eager to make their discontent known. host: we're talking with seung min kim who's following this. one of the first orders of business we saw yesterday with the new chair of house rules committee, pete sessions of texas and ranking louise of upstate new york. what happens as congress begin dealing with the rules of this new congress? guest: the other major first legislative for the day was to deal with the rules package for the 113th congress in the

house where this is how -- this is system by which you just set up a bunch of rules to make sure -- to help govern the house. it included in it -- there were some provisions on the house to run the house but there were provisions democrats pointed out authorizing additional money to fund the defense of marriage act in court which they criticized early in the day. host: what else you looking for today as congress convene. hurricane sandy will be the first this morning. guest: major item is going to be the sandy vote. this caused serious wreckage earlier this week. everyone has been focusing on the fiscal cliff vote and it finally passed congress. the news came that the vote that had been scheduled on sending aid to states hurt by hurricane sandy had suddenly pulled from

the floor. it infuriated republicans, democrats and very notably republican from the new york and new jersey area. speaker john boehner got conspiracy lashing from governor chris christie from new jersey. so this is the first trend of the aid that congress hopes to send. it's about $9 billion in flood insurance. they hope to pass it quickly and hope to pass it under suspension rule would be two-thirds of the house to vote. the senate side will would probably -- if receive from the house and taken up by unanimous consent, the house hopes to pass that $51 billion in additional funding for sandy area on january 15th this month. host: seung min kim politico, thank you for joining us live. back to some of your comments first from our twitter page.

this is c-dog. he says this, speaker boehner will lead the republicans back to the minority. from our facebook page, comments carolyn says if the senate of the house will abide by the constitution and they reduce the size of government, we might be the great country we used to be the direction we are heading now will destroy us and elizabeth says, this, one could only hope this congress will be different. i hope. online at cbsnews.com, five big issues facing the 113th congress. first fiscal issues, first and foremost, the congress would have to address the issues left on the table from the 112th congress. the second big agenda is immigration, something that the president said will be a top priority in the next year. number three is gun control, number four is energy according to cbs news and number five, tax reform. top five issues facing the new congress. next is robert joining us from florida independent line, good

morning. caller: good morning. on behalf of many independents and certainly many voters that now have which might call, voters remorse, if they haven't felt it yet, time will come it will occur. the difficulty of our leadership in our america is take a picture of triangle. executive, legislative and judicial. right now, we have a fractured triangle on behalf of the president and part of the triangle is damaged by the senate. the record shows that the republican congress has effectively and factually presented numerous job related

legislature to the senate and many other stopgap bills for all the enormous amount of laws and rules and publications or what you want to call leadership out of control forcing on many of our businesses won't hire. host: robert thanks for the call. for three decades john kerry was the junior senate from massachusetts. but the picture this morning of the boston globe changing the guard, showing swearing in of the current junior senator elizabeth warren. john kerry will be approved by the senate to be next secretary of state that will set up another special election in massachusetts. there was another massachusetts politician that continues to comp -- to come up in

conversations about the issue of bipartisan. in one of his final interviews in 2003. promised tip o'neal, sat down to talk to us about bipartisanship. this was in november 1992 interview part of c-span video library. >> the congress are begging to be able to work with the president of the united states. george bush never allowed them to work with him. he always tried to blame them for everything. he took pride in the fact 39 vetoes he had on the line. george bush never saw that. he wanted to chip the program. when they finally passed it and he did it, it was a weak piece of legislation that was really of no value. i don't see clinton doing that.

i see tom follow -- folly and members of the congress working and everybody wants to get congress back on its feet. it's in top shape, not in the top shape that they say during the election but it's in tough shape. when the parties can work together, it's doable. host: on november 1992, the former speak of the house tip o'neill as he assess congress on the issue of bipartisanship. there's this from eugene robinson, to say that congress looks like a clown show this week, is an insult to self-respecting clowns. painful as it maybe, let's review what happened. our leaders manufactured a fake crisis and then proceeded to handle it so incompetently that

they turned into a real one. the bogus fiscal cliff was a designed doomsday mechanism to force congress and president to make tough decisions. resistance to the concept of decision-making was so fierce, our leaders can avoid hurdling their own doom by not doing anything. will it be different? ken is joining us from alabama, democrats line good morning. caller: good morning. i heard a congress yesterday said there's only two ways through this problem. one way is raising taxes and other by cutting programs. i just want to get a little bit more in-depth in that. i feel like the only way is fix it, is break the american public, that's cutting programs or taxing businesses. i looked at some statistics it

say some of the corporations, exxon and wal-mart have more income coming in their country. i don't understand how they don't owe a little bit money. we spend money everyday with these people and making millions and billions as ceos. it's amazing to me they feel like they shouldn't chip in on anything. it's amazing to me. host: we're asking question on our facebook page. well, will this congress be different? it's unscientific survey. 78 saying no, 17 say yes it will be different. next is columbus, ohio a line for republicans. caller: as far as congress will be different, i like to pray it could. i got some serious doubts. my main reason for calling in, i just seen where you guys put up

the top five most important thing for the coming year. it's awful funny that number one -- it didn't even make the top five, was our deficit. i don't know what people are thinking. host: actually, that was the first issue and again, it wasn't our list, i wanted to refer. this is what cbs news put down as its top five agenda items. number one was fiscal cliff and dealing with the debt limit issues. caller: i didn't see where it said debt limit. it aint just debt limit it's our deficit. i don't understand why spending cuts was put off two months. this country is going to go under if we don't make some serious spending cuts. i know they're in there where they can be made to where they can't hurt nobody. host: how would do you that? caller: well, i know they're in there. there's all kinds of stupid crap

that congress -- i don't think if congress but somebody is paying for that they can get rid of. just like the nuclear thing, do we really need three of them. host: thanks for the call. let me go back, cbs news didn't list of the fiscal cliff and raising the debt limit as the number one agenda item for the new congress listing five. you can go to cbs news.com to read them. we have reached the current debt limit of $16.4 trillion. this will set the stage for another battle over spending issues. this is what it looks like at u.s .debtclock.org. congress needs to deal with some of the lessons we should take from the debt over the fiscal cliff. >> over the next few months, it will be up to the president and party to work with us to deliver the same kind of bipartisan resolution on spending that we

have now achieved on taxes. but it needs to happen before the 11th hour. for that to happen, the president needs to show up this time. the president claims to want a balanced approach now that he has the tax rates he wants, his calls for balance means he needs to join us in the effort to achieve meaningful spending reform. host: senator mitch mcconnell made his comments yesterday on the senate floor and on the front page of "new york times," speaker boehner retains his post. in the senate as well, hard feelings from the old congress were in the new one. the democratic leadership saying it will hold off efforts to limit the filibuster while gokes with -- negotiations with republicans continue. more junior democrats say they

are not done questioning the limit of power of government even if taking extraordinary efforts to changing the senate rule. there's this quote from jeff democratic senator from oregon. he says the senate is broken. next caller is from louisville, ohio bob is on the line. caller: two thing before i get to the congress. the guy was talking about wal-mart. the family sitting on $250 billion, they don't pay any taxes. last month, 50 people got killed in india, they were making 18 cents an hour. they got killed and in a facility that was run by wal-mart. another thing real quick about barack obama and extending unemployment benefits. he's had four years to redo tax policy, trade policy, policy

with war and infrastructure and he didn't do that. he could have created jobs in doing that. what he's doing with this unemployment, he's becoming part of the new world order. that's handing people vouchers. host: bob thanks to the call. another point of view from paul krugman, battles of the budget. he points out the central fantasy of a grand bear began on a budget never had a chance even if some kind of bargain supposedly reached tea parties will be reneging on the deal. the reality is that our two major political parties are engaged in a fierce struggle over the future shape of america's new deal. republicans want to roll back all of that and making room for

drastically lower taxes on the wealthy, yes it's essentially a class war. the fight over the fiscal cliff was just one battle in that war. it ended arguably with a victory for the democrats. the question is whether or not that victory sets the stage for a larger defeat. next is taylor joining us from chicago, democrats line. good morning. caller: thank you. the question will this congress be different as of today? no. they have issue with this president. the tea party who say they want to vote out everybody that voted tax increase on billionaire. it's not about class and i'm not jealous of anybody. i think they can pay a little more. it's not going to hurt them. as far as extending unemployment, it's not like they will stay on it forever. it can only go so far.

it's one or two or three times. social security i'm going to be 62 in a couple years, i would like to collect social security also. i can't understand why they have this thing for the sandy hurricane relief. i stood up in my chair when i saw all the earmarks attached to it. i'm like excuse me. if $62 billion to go to connecticut, new york and new jersey and $40 million of it is earmarks, just block that off and give them the rest. i like to know every senator in congress who put those earmarks on there. i was so angry. host: you can watch it as it unfolds at the hoss gavels in 10:00 eastern time. from our twitter page, there's

this comment, congress will not change until the republicans or thrown from the scrap heap of history. here's this from reno from our facebook page saying will this congress be different and has campaign reform done with? so no, there won't be much different. we're watching the debate in the u.s. senate on the filibuster rule and there's a story available online at the hill.com by alex bolton. he point out most the new clasts democratic freshman saying the filibuster reform should require senators to hold the floor and debate. some of the old -- junior democrats including tom udall of new mexico, the chamber will

remain gridlocked for most of the time. an issue that the senate democratic leader harry reid addressed on the floor yesterday. >> in waning weeks of the last congress occupied by other matters including the fiscal cliff, madam chair, i believe this matter bickering of 113th congress which just started. so today i will follow the precedence set in 2005 and 2011 reserve the right of all senators to propose changes to the senate rules. it's my intention that the senate will recess today rather than adjourn to continue the same legislative day and allow rules discussion continue. madam president i am confident that the republican leader and i can come to an agreement that allow senate to work more

efficiently. host: meanwhile this cover from bloomberg business week, babies the politics of the fiscal cliff deal are outrageous. the economic thinking is even worse. lot of attention on starbucks which has been writing come together on cups. it's really come to this. ceos going to lean on congress for a budget deal. they ended up pleading on coffee cups. will the new congress be different? next is dave joining us from idaho independent line. caller: good morning. my comment is why any targets being brought against harry reid for not following the constitution? he's suppose to bring the budget. he hasn't. he called boehner a dictator but

he doesn't bring any of the work that congress has done. my other question is, feinstein took an oath to the constitution for holding the constitution period. yes, she's for gun control and taking our rights away. we have the right to bear arms against a tyrannical government. why isn't this getting out there? she is break her oath of upholding the constitution. thank you. host: thank you for your calls. from the connecticut post with eye on the tragedy in newtown, connecticut, new senators sworn in as gun control is the focus for senator chris murphy, democrat from connecticut. he replaces joe lieberman.

there is this cover story from the new york post. peace and this is student on a bus heading to sandy hook elementary school as the kids go back to school and from inside, it's good to let the kids be kids. we'll go next to brownsville, texas, republican line -- actually kelly next on the republican line from montana. caller: i'm really concerned about the gridlock in congress. it's ridiculous to this point. i don't think it will get much better. until we get a whole fresh bodies in there, it's going to be the same gridlock. host: thanks from brownsville texas, republican line good morning. caller: i wanted to say that congress will not be any different. you have the senate and a president who are way too far to the left.

feel that boehner needs to stand his ground and represent us who are on the other side. i feel like in defense of wal-mart that everybody seems glory of a business who works really hard throughout the years and accomplishes their goal but nobody sees the hard work that it takes to build the business. that's what makes me really sad that people just want to take what everybody else had. host: liz had this on our twitter page. i wondering why anyone thinks this congress or president obama will do anything different. charles krauthammer has the return of real obama. the route retreat and president obama got his tax hikes naked of spending cuts passed by the republican house of representatives after which you

might expect him to pivot from self-proclaimed pivot of fiscal balance. why ask the post on the eve of the fiscal cliff -- he has to interest in them. he is a visionary and not an accountant. sure he'll pretend to care about the deficit now he's passed that post, he is free to be himself a committed big government social democrat. that's this morning from charles. caller: i'm calling because i want to say one thing it's not about whether this congress or next congress do better. it's not about the president or the senate, it's about the american people have elected all of the officials to be our

mouthpiece. we are divided in our election process. whoever wins, republican or democrat, the american people have done their job. now it's time for congress and our elected officials that we have put there to do their job and to remember that the oath that all of them takes when they come in to serve the american people. host: mildred thanks for the call from connecticut. there's this from the washington post. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi guess will star on the series finale "30 rock." the democratic leader making scripted debut for the finale of the nbc program.

"30 rock" officials tight lipped. larry joining us from the biloxi, mississippi, independent line good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i don't believe the congress our president will do anything different. they pretty much laid out their lifestyles and the thing they intend to do. they looking for ways to decrease spending but it seems to me that we've elected some people to go into these positions to make our decision for us and they seem to be pretty much self-serving. if you get an ineffective congressman who can't do his job and proven can't do his job by going in there and serving couple years and then gets voted out, well that congressman still gets a pension for the rest of his life and it's well over $100,000. we got thousands of those guys out there collecting this money. if you took a job and or

expected to serve 20 years and do ineffective job and couldn't do that, would you expect to get a pension for the rest of your life? why should we be paying these guys this money? ineffective? fire them and take their pension away. if they're effective, let them take it. host: larry thanks for the suggestion. ron has this point. we are set for a replay of the 96, 95 government shutdown. the president promised spending cuts. ed o'keefe senator makes a long climb back from the post. senator mark kirk returning greeted by vice president joe biden and he was welcomed by senate democrats and republicans as well as the illinois delegation. senator kirk who is 53 years old suffered a stroke in january of last year, has been undergoing intensive rehabilitation.

he vowed to walk up the steps of the capitol and did that yesterday and hugging his desk. a pointed moment as senator kirk returning to the u.s. senate. thanks for your call and comments on the issue will this congress be any different. up next we'll have a chance for you to question two members of the senate john hoeven of north dakota and later former governor angus king inhe's independent from maine. that's coming up on c-span's "washington journal." but this weekend on c-span 2's book tv and c-span 3 american history tv, our focus is providence, rhode island. here's a review. >> the founding of providence, when you think of roger williams coming over from massachusetts and his idea of having a lively

experiment and the idea of freedom and also dissent was something that is very important to the city in the state of rhode island. in fact, some of his words are believe in our state house about having a lively experiment here and having that freedom of expression and freedom of religion. being able to dissent and not necessarily agree with your leaders. one political figure that i admire is up on the mantra near patrick joseph mccarthy, who was mare in 1907 and 1909. the first born mayor. he went through very difficult childhood but went on to study at harvard and become a lawyer and come back to providence and

make a huge difference. we have seen how different ethnics groups. the irish came faced challenges, over came them and having very successful. made their mark. mayor mccarthy example of that. italians came and faced challenges well and very involved in government. you seen a wave of latino immigrants now making marks and facing challenge and doing everything to be successful. it's interesting to see how it repeats itself. i'm leaving out some groups but we've had so many wonderful immigrants that made proffer -- providence what it is. >> "washington journal" continues. >> we want to welcome back

senator john hoeven the republican of north dakota. the former governor of the state. as you begin 113th congress, will it be different from the last one? guest: we face real challenge and we need to have bipartisan solution to address. we're working on the debt ceiling right now and we've got to find ways to address the deficit and debt and reduce spending. that means coming together in a bipartisan way with real solutions for the american people. host: let me dig down deeper in that. in an editorial he posted yesterday, republican leader mitch mcconnell said we need to avoid these 11th hour fights? how do you get to bipartisanship with your democratic colleagues? -- guest: it is a challenge. i hope that the work we went through on the fiscal cliff, going to that deadline,

demonstrated to everybody in the house and senate as well as the administration that look, that's not the way to do business. let's get after it and get it done and let's get it done before the deadline. we're already working on it but the key is, people are going to have to recognize that it takes bipartisanship but it also takes real solutions. we have got to find ways to reduce our spending and reform entitlement. we also need progrowth tax reform as well. we need those things and we have -- each side has to give to get a real solution. host: the house and president said this last week, he's not going to be part of this fight. you guys congress racked up these bills. it's up to you to figure out a way to pay for them. guest: he is responsible as president is to lead. that means working with congress on real solution and coming up

agreement on debt ceiling is a huge part of that and it goes exactly what we have to do. if you look at simpson-bowls and ideas to address our debt and get our economy back on track, it involves not only progrowth tax reform but it also involves entitlement reform and balancing budget and controlling spending. all of those things go into addressing the debt limit the right way. the president has to be a big part working on that. host: has he been a leader? is the president is leader? guest: he needs to be more engaged and he needs to work with congress in a very hope way and he has to tell not only congress but the people of this great country exactly what he believes the right plan is to reduce spending, to reform entitlements and to join us and put those things in place. host: let me go back to what senator mcconnell said and put specifics to these words. he said, we simply cannot increase the nation's borrowing

limit without committing to long overdue reforms to spending programs that are the very cause of our debt. guest: i think that's what i said. host: what programs. where do you cut? guest: let me give you an example. i'm on the agricultural committee. in the senate we passed a farm bill that provides more than $20 billion in reductions at the same time we put a new five year farm bill with better insurance in place. a similar plan passed the house ag committee but the full plan did not get through the house. that's one example where we're improving the farm policy and at the same time finding savings. the other thing is when you put a five year plan in place, you create certainty. that certainty stimulates investment and investment stimulates economic growth. that not only putting people back to work but growing economy, economic growth creates real revenue to address our deficit. host: should there be means

testing on social security? guest: i think we're going to have to look at a number of things in terms of the entitlement programs including means testing. when you talk about means testing, you probably going to have to look at medicare. for upper income people, we are going to have to do some means testing in medicare. in social security, what we've talked about -- even the president come forward on this -- which is good, that's looking at chained c.p.i. looking at the index. we have to do it in a way with we make sure we protect current recipients, particularly low income. i think that's one of the kind of bipartisan reform that we're working on for social security. i think for means testing, that's where looking at something along those lines for medicare. host: should tax loopholes to be changed or adjusted for large corporations? guest: sure we need tax reform.

one thing that we did do addressing the fiscal cliff and obviously much more needs to be done, we did make the lower tax rates permanent. that permanency is important to create certainty to get economic growth and get business investment. yes, we do need to address the deductions and closing loopholes. but we have to keep our rates down. it can't be just raising taxes. it's about making simpler fairer tax code that stimulates business growth. host: when you talk to your constituents what's the number one question you get about washington and the politics in this town? guest: why can't you guys get together and do what i said. have a big plan and put it in place that does all of these things. progrowth tax reform, entitlement reform and reducing spending, balancing the budget so that we get on a long term trajectory for growth and job

creation and make sure we're strong. host: you can joining us on facebook or twitter. you can send us an e-mail or give us a phone call. senator hoeven, why is it so hard to get to that point? why can't democrats and republicans bridge the divide and reach a compromise? guest: it reflects the debate going on in the country and in between bigger government, higher taxes and more spending versus more limited government. lower taxes and more of growth in the private sector. you see that in the country and that's reflected in the representatives. host: did the election provide any clarity on that? guest: actually the election, we stayed pretty much status quo. you've got a republican majority in the house, you're got a democrat majority in the senate and you've got democratic

administration. the democrats controls two-thirds of the government. which is why the president has to step up and provide leadership on these key issue that's helps the congress bridge this divide, which isn't just in the congress but the people of this country saying, these are different views of how we governor. we've got to come to come together and get the job done. host: you had a lot of interaction with the president? has the republican leadership had close interaction on a personal level with the president? guest: no, we need presidential leadership to join with us. host: let's go to mel joining us from clay pool, indiana, go ahead please. caller: good morning. i think there's one thing that they could possibly do to help balance the budget and that was

-- the whole group everybody including the president, be willing to take a tax cut -- i'm sorry a wage cut. guest: since i've been in the senate, which is now two years, we have reduced the senate pay and the budget from the senate offices. we're going to have to continue to find those kind of savings not only for the senators of congress but across government as we talked about earlier. we've got to find ways to reduce spending. host: let's go to benton, illinois, good morning to you, democrats line. caller: yes. i want to make a comment about the payroll taxes that everybody is having suchal fit about paying 6.2 now. i can remember, i'm 74 years old, i can remember paying 13%

of payroll taxes for social security, which i'm on and they're talking about reducing? after i paid this kind of money. i get a little upset about it. another thing i wanted to comment about, this last bill that was paid, i didn't pay too much attention to the pork that was ended until it got to nascar. i'm a nascar fan from several years back but to subsidize nascar for improvement to their racetracks. give me a break. this is the kind of pork that we certainly do not need. these people make so much money, they don't know what to do with it half the time. host: thanks for the call. also related twitter comment from our viewer are you going to reject the pork in the sandy

bill that's voted in the house today. guest: she made a couple points. first the payroll tax that you pay, that's the funding of social security so people pay into social security system which is retirement system and then they have social security when they retire. what happened was, several years ago, as part of the negotiations going back to 2010, that was reduced to 4.2% as part of the effort to stimulate the economy. it's just reverting to the 6.2% that historically has been at and again, that is funding for social security, which obviously we need to keep sound and make sure it's there for the long term. that's not an increase, that's what the rate always been and it just reverted after the two year tax holiday or reduction in the social security payment into the system.

the other point about nascar and the fiscal stimulus legislation, in that legislation, there were a number of tax credits which were extended, is a tax credit nascar was able to use. that was existing tax program that rather than allowing it to drop away, it was extended i think -- we have to look at all of those kind of things and figure out where we can save. you and atalked about earlier. we need tax reform to address those kind of things as well as any pork any of these things. we have to make sure that the work we do is done in an open transparent way so that the things do get funded are things that the american people know about and they feel fair. ...

with bipartisan support. host: if all that is the on the table and there's an agreement on mental health, would you support any restrictions on the high-powered rifle or magazine clips used in the most recent shootings?

guest: i will have to see what the recommendations to solutions are? one of the things senator lieberman and others have talked about is having a commission on violence where you look at these things in a comprehensive way and do it on a bipartisan basis, so you have a thoughtful dialogue, open and transparent, the public sees what's going on, and the recommendations. host: do you support the nra? are you a member? guest: yes. host: now to the phone. good morning. caller: my question has to do with budgets. the house has sent a budget to the senate. the senate has failed to act on that. they have had no budget of their own. the president presented his budget to the house which was defeated. 414-0 with no democratic

support. what will it take to get the senate to pass a budget? everybody's talking about deficit control. that all begins with having a budget. guest: we not only need a budget, we need a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, which i have always supported. we have to not only get our budget through the senate, which i am pushing to do. the republicans are not the majority, so we have to get to push a balanced budget through the senate as well as the house. but we have to have a balanced budget amendment. host: john hoven spent 10 years as governor of north dakota. what's the better job? guest: i would say being governor most. of the senators here, who were former governors, will tell you the same king, because you can set an agenda and go after it and you have a lot of control? on how you put that in place and

work to get it done. here, it's tougher. however, i came to this job because i believe our country faces real challenges, as we have been discussing, but i want to be part of the solutions for the american people. i believe in this country and i believe we can do great things. we have to buckle down in a bipartisan way and get this done. it's not easy and does not happen in the short term. it's a long-term proposition, but we have to get it done. that is worth doing. that's why i am here and will continue serving my state. host: you have a new colleague, heidi heitkamp, many republicans thought they would pick up that seat, landed in democratic hands. guest: i have known her many years. we worked together on a range of issues. i will meet twitter again this morning after i leave here. we have had discussions on anything from energy to health care. your husband is a doctor. she's very knowledgeable about

health care and has talked with me some ideas i look for to working with her on. i've spoken to her about some things i want to do to stimulate energy in this country. i look forward to welcoming her to the senate. host: what piece of advice do you have? guest: i want to be careful about giving anyone advice. i would just say we need bipartisanship. i think she and i will work together to be part of the solution on these issues in a bipartisan way. host: this -- guest: i think we need reforms. you and i just talked about them and i have already given a couple specific examples. in medicare, i think we need to look at some means testing for upper-income individuals and we need to look at the indexing. i think we can make these

reforms to entitlements in a way where we are not changing them for people who are at or near retirement but for the future recipients. i think you can get support from republicans and democrats to do it and broad public support, because for seniors at or near retirement, they know the program will not be changed for them, but for younger people they will support the reforms because they know we have to make reforms to save the program and make sure they are there when they retire, when they need medicare. that's how you do at. there are specific examples. host: west palm beach florida, with senator john hoven of north carolina. caller: good morning. i have a comment and question. i think it's very important that you explain the difference between the debt limit and deficit reduction.

they are two separate things. the debt limit is you have to authorize the money to pay for what you have spent. deficit reduction is what we are going to do going forward. my question is for the senator, they want to change social security to a chained cpi. , that,her programs raises, what else do they have a theory like this? what state are you from that it's going down? and what is our alternative? guest: no question we have to find reductions in the growth of health care costs. that will take reforms, everything from cutting out fraud, waste, and abuse, to creating a system that incentivizes the right kind of

behavior is on the part of consumers. we must find ways to control the growing cost of health care, no question about it. as far as the chained cpi, the idea is you apply that across all of government for all of these different insulators to have a more realistic assessments of the inflation rate. -- for all these different inflators. as far as the difference between the debt and deficit, the deficit is what creates the debt. each year we have a deficit. in other words, when we spend more than we take in each year, that adds to the debt. we are at the point where the debt ceiling need to be raised. what we did the last time this came up was replaced the budget control act and said that for any $1 increase in the debt limit, we've got to have a $1 deduction in spending, because we've got to get our fiscal

house in order. that's what we are talking about as we go into the debt ceiling discussion. any agreement, we have to have real reduction so we get the deficit under control so we don't continue to increase the debt the debt reduced over time. host: our guest john hoven is former president and ceo of the bank of north dakota and a graduate of dartmouth and went to northwestern university. on facebook -- guest: i think, again, we've got to get to the point where we are moving the legislation across the floor in a clear, open, transparent manner where it is debated, the public is aware of what is getting funded and what is not getting funded, so there is broad public support for things that have merit and they

are funded. and the things that are not, in that debate back and forth, and gets dropped out of the legislation. we're at the point now where we have to prioritize, because we are spending more than we are taking in. so that's what we are talking about. that's the kind of thing a to do to reduce pork and spending and get the decordeficit under control. host: this from one of our force followers -- guest: you've got to come up with a solution that's more comprehensive than just talking about guns in order to get the kind of support we need to move it to congress to get it enacted. host: on the democratic line from phoenix, peggy. good morning. caller: good morning.

i heard bob woodward say this morning watching congress is like sitting in a prominent divorce court. they just squabble and squabble and there's no end in sight. maybe we as citizens have to t you all getcan' along, because it does not appear that is possible. another thing, politicians love to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse. when we are looking at congress, we cannot help but think congress is a classic example of waste, fraud, and abuse. 33 votes for health care reform that was going nowhere. and all the other abuses in terms of 15 weeks off and things we see that are so infuriating. when it comes to entitlements, i never hear anybody talk about a real savings in terms of

medicare would be government- negotiated drug costs. we know that saves an incredible amount. and in social security, and never hear them talk about moving up the early retirement age. they're always discussing the full retirement age. i know personally that many people who have taken the early retirement and i wonder if that would not be a greater savings. host: thank you. we will get a response. guest: i think she's rooting for the kinds of ideas we have to work through in terms of making reforms on a bipartisan basis in order to make sure that these entitlement programs are there for the long run. and so, you put forth a number of concepts that we can work with. i would do it in a way for current recipients. not changing the system.

people at or near retirement. but for the younger people, indexing in some cases, means testing some of these things, are the kinds of changes i think can garner not only bipartisan reform -- or support, but public support, because when i talk to younger people may say we are going to have to make some of those changes to make sure the programs are safe for long term so they are there when the young person needs it. host: there are a number of editorials and opinion pages this morning. here's one from the wall street journal --

is their unity within the republican caucus in the senate? guest: i believe so. with the debt ceiling, with the continuing resolution which comes up in march, and even with the sequester that has been delayed 60 days, all three of those things offer real opportunities to require savings before we put a new agreement in place. for an increase in the debt ceiling, i believe there is going to have to be a commitment by the administration as well as congress to production before we can have agreement to raise the debt ceiling. host: i could be the entire piece by eugene robinson, but i will share the first sentence. critical.s clearly

i understand that solutions by nature are imperfect. but the reality is we have got to do these things that we are talking about. we need to do it in a thoughtful, open, transparent way, not. at the last not i think that is what he's referring to. when you do it up against these deadlines, a way to do business. we talked about it earlier. i hope that running into the deadline on the fiscal cliff is something that congress will take into account as we work on the debt ceiling agreement and that we can get it done before the deadline. remember, you have talked about how president obama, speaker boehner will approach these things, we've got to have people talking to each other and we've got to get to solutions before the 11th hour to avoid that.

that is absolutely what we can do. host: we agreed to the debt ceiling limit, 16 $0.40 trillion -- $16.4 trillion, up in the last hours. guest: the treasury has some flexibility. the time has come to deal with it. there's no reason to put this off. let's get it done. host: you have a favorite for the next treasury secretary appointed? guest: i don't have names. jackal is a possibility that has been talked about by president obama, a very knowledgeable individual. call,t is the president's it is an important appointment, so we will look at his choice carefully. i hope it is somebody who can help work through the kind of agreement we need to address the debt ceiling. host: if he is nominated, can you see any hurdles for him

being nominated by the senate? guest: i don't want to pre- judge. but he is someone thoughtful and knowledgeable and should be confirmed. host: hearings could take place within the next few weeks for your colleague john kerry to take over as secretary of state. will he face hurdles in the senate? guest: again, i think that i don't want to pre-judged the process, but i believe he will be approved. it's likely i will support him, but i would like to talk to him first. host: from clayton, north carolina, on the phone with skip. caller: there are few things. faith indon't have any the government at all. i am 53 years old. for 53 years now i have been hearing that we are going to get

rid of all the fraud and abuse. 53 years, the same thing. we're gonna to cut back on spending, 53 years. this congress has done nothing but take in this country and put it in the poorhouse. i don't understand how you can raise taxes when you need money. every time you raise money, -- every time you need money, you raise taxes. my being a household, i have to find ways to cut when you guys do that. i cannot sit there and see you guys taking our money and giving it overseas, like japan. we owe japan money, so we pay them money to pay down the debt, but we also give them money. that makes no sense to me. i would like to know something about all that. guest: i think what we spend overseas whether its foreign aid or even our military overseas,

that is something we have to look at and find savings, like the caller is talking about. as far as addressing waste, fraud, and abuse, that is something that has to be worked on all the time and clearly we have to do a better job of it throughout the government's. i agree with the caller that you cannot be raising taxes to solve the debt and deficit problem. we've got to find savings and we have to do entitlement reform. so i agree with that. in the fiscal cliff agreement, we extended the lower tax rates for 99% of all taxpayers. also, addressed capital gains, dividends, the estate tax, we made them permanent. i believe that will help create economic growth and economic growth will help create revenue to help investment and not higher taxes. on that point, i have a long history of making sure that we

work to grow the economy both as a governor and now working on it as a senator, grow the economy to get revenue to address opposite. and you find savings and reforms to address the deficit and not raising taxes. host: we welcome our listeners on c-span radio. our conversation this friday morning on a washington journal. he sits on the senate agriculture committee. who's the ranking republican? guest: pat cochrane. pat roberts was the ranking member. on our system you can only be committee chairman or ranking member of anyone committee for certain number of years. that's all republicans do it. i don't think the democrats have that limitation. pat has seniority. he actually will become the ranking member on the agriculture committee. we just voted on that yesterday.

host: does that change the dynamics? does that change the debate over the farm bill? guest: it may change in a little. we passed a very good from bill emphasizes crop insurance. i think there are going to have to be some adjustments for some of the southern growers. that may help in terms of figuring out that piece of the equation, which may help us move the bill through the house. we've got a good farm bill to the senate. the house has to pass one. it has to be something that works all regions of the country. certainly, senator robert degree job as ranking member and the senator akaka and brings a lot of great experience and ip will be helpful in making sure we pass it. cochoran.r , an host: aline is joining us

on the phone. caller: what percentage of the entitlement program go to so security, medicare, and public assistance -- social security? i believe public assistance should have tougher guidelines for people to be able to qualify for these. as a past grocery checkers, i have seen horrible news. i have a solution of a possibility. why can't the money be given to state rest homes or hospitals and then jobs created for the people. they can fold sheets and towels. there are numerous places that the government could step in and say we will give you this money, but we need you to help us with these people. these people have to go to work. if they don't go to work, they don't get paid, just like i did. i was just wondering, we keep

hearing, i'm on social security, i worked 32 years and i made some wise choices and i was married to a farmer, so i know where this all comes from. i also know that we prepared meals that right now people would not consider its a meal. but we made do with what we had. i would just like to know, as an example of the abuse, when a child would come in and buy a 3 cent piece of candy and i would have to give them change, they would walk out and pretty soon, here come the parents to buy a pack of cigarettes. so that is what i would like to know. what percentage of these entitlements -- i feel a little angry when i keep hearing social security, social security. i paid into that all my life. host: thanks for calling from nebraska. guest: i think she's talking

about some of the reforms that can and should be made in the snap program, which is the supplemental nutrition assistance program. i think we can find ways to continue to improve the system in terms of not only how much is spent on food stamps but making sure it is spent in the right way. i think that's what she's referring to. as far as what percentage that is relative to social security, medicare, medicaid, i don't know that off the top of my head. regardless whether it is the food stamp program or snap or any of these, we have to continue to find a way to do a better job. that is part of finding savings throughout all of government spending. host: on twitter -- guest: under the budget control act, we reduced the defense expenditures by $500 billion

over the next 10 years. and under the sequester, that calls for another $500 billion deduction. i don't think that's the way to go. if we need to prioritize and determine where to make those savings rather than doing it across the board. that's why earlier i said for example, looking at foreign aid or the overseas operation costs, basing, we can find savings. host: on the democratic line now, you are next. caller: good morning. i have a few things to say. first, the debt limit. in 2011 when they played with the debt limit, money that republicans had already spent eight years earlier, it cost the american people and other $90

billion in interest because they did not tap it. second, the snap program and social security, what happens is we have americans fighting americans over carp. the snap program has a card now which the kids cannot go in there and get changed and all of a sudden their mother comes in and buy something else. it's all on the card now. most of that fraud is eradicated. third, social security, even ronald reagan, their choice president's, said that social security should never be on the budgets -- under budget. fourth, president obama has gone over and beyond as a leader trying to work with republicans and john boehner has said he will not talk to the president any more. guest: we were talking earlier about the need for

bipartisanship in congress. i made a statement, some of what you see in congress reflects a difference of opinion in the country. that is what you are hearing from some of the callers in terms of how we address these solutions. so it takes real leadership on the part of the president as well as members of congress to say we understand people have different ideas on how to solve these big challenges, but we've got to find a way to come together. we started out on the debt and deficit. when we passed the budget control act last year we went from just raising the debt ceiling, which is part of how we got into trouble without having a balanced budget agreement, to any $1 increase in raising the debt ceiling, there's got to be a dollar reduction in spending. host: your colleague senator pat toomey in pennsylvania said a partial government shutdown may be necessary in order to send a message that we will not raise

the debt limit without spending cuts. guest: i don't want a shutdown, but we have to have real savings and reforms before it can have a debt ceiling debate. host: and the debate over the filibuster rule is something the senate will be taking up, harry reid setting perform needs to take place. some freshmen members, seven of the nine freshmen democrats say they support changes to the filibuster rule. guest: i think there will be some changes to the filibuster rule. we have been working on it. the majority leader in the senate and the minority leader are negotiating already the changes right now. i think it has to be done in a way where you continue to have a filibuster, but you have some changes that would ensure minority rights are represented in the senate, so you have the kind of policy coming out of the congress that has broad based bipartisan support throughout public. we are talking about addressing these big challenges. we're talking outperforms to

entitlement programs. when we talk about tax reform, when we talk about finding real savings to get on top of the debt and deficit, when we talk about a balanced budget amendment, that takes not just our partisanship in the congress but a sense from the whole public, both republicans and democrats, that we have craft a solution and heaas broadbased public support to work. host: our next call is anthony from watertown, south dakota, independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. this goes back to the farm bill. i wondered why it has not been talked about very much, about legislation being passed for the federal level to step out of the states' rights to either legalize marijuana or to grow it for industrial purposes like

ropes and fabrics and paper, to revolutionize it. guest: the reason is the law enforcement agencies, like the dea, feel they would have a difficult time enforcing the law between marijuana, which is actually smoked, and hemp, a similar plant, but is used for making clothing and materials and that kind of thing. the reason i believe congress has not passed this is because law-enforcement has said they are not able to enforce the law to make sure illegal uses of growing a drug versus growing plant for clothing manufacturer is not something they would able to enforce. asked to be addressed before you have a log place like the caller is referring to. host: bradford, pennsylvania, frank is on the republican line. caller: good morning, senator. i would like to say that we do

not have an honest tax system. i like simpson-bowles, but it does not go far enough. i think everything should be ordinary income. and then allow your deductions per family and a 10% or a cap and everything else is taxed on 3 or 4 different bases. i get all kinds of capital gains. i get royalties from foreign oil companies in the united states. they are here because they don't get those kind of benefits in norway or sweden. i get gas royalties out of ohio from a french company. they get 30% they don't even pay tax on. we have to run a country. i think simpson-bowles is the right direction, but i don't think simpson-bowles goes far

enough. at one time i thought steve forbes' idea was great, but he wants to keep a certain piece of money that is an entitlement. guest: and makes a very good point that we have got to have the kind of pro-growth tax reform that simplifies the system, broadens the base, lower rates, but that stimulates economic growth and economic development. that means not only getting people back to work but it is the growing economy that creates more revenue, not higher taxes. the growth and the revenues from growth is what we really need to address the deposition and debt. often we don't focus on that enough in the scoring, like the cbo, congressional budget office scoring you see all the time, the revenue from growth is not factored in. in anything we put together a, like we just made the lower tax rates permanent for 99% of all taxpayers, the revenue now we will get from economic growth because of that certainty is not

factored in. if we get 1%, present and more economic growth, that is huge, that's trillions in revenue over 10 years to help reduce the debt and deficit. that's what the caller is getting at. the right kind of tax system that helps stimulate economic growth will cause a big difference in addressing our deficit. host: two items from the news. the latest jobs numbers released a short while ago from the labor department showing the unemployment rate at 7.8%. the u.s. economy adding 155,000 jobs in december. guest: my reaction is that we've got to continue to add more jobs. we were at 7.7%, savannah's picked up a little. again, that is what we are talking about, talking about the kind of reforms that will not just reduce spending in government but get our economy going. even the last caller referred to

important points not just on pro-growth tax reform but on energy. we have opportunities in this country to create an incredible number of jobs and get the kind of economic growth that will help with the deficit. energy is just one great example. also, eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. that is a national-security issues. we have got to do better. the right kind of approaches like we are talking about to stimulate economic growth. host: former congressman barney frank has told the governor of massachusetts that he wants to be in the u.s. senate.

going to benk it's very important, because we do have to get real savings in terms of addressing any kind of debt ceiling agreement. so i think this is a very important stretched. like you and i have been talked about, buckled down and get it done before the deadline. but it is going to be difficult. that is very clear. you are talking about a big challenge. host: congressman barney frank taking the senate seat, your reaction? guest: that's up to the people of massachusetts. host: john hoven is the senator from north dakota. thanks very much for being with us. guest: good to be with you. host: we will talk more about the latest unemployment numbers and what they mean as we look at america by the numbers later in the program with marilyn geewax. we will continue our conversation with members of the senate. one of the newest members is independent senator angus king

from maine. the washington journal continues. back in a moment. [video clip] >> the big discussion that i remember was what is richard nixon going to do? >> i remember going home that night and we were scared to death. it's like a time bomb. this thing gets in the press. it is a disaster for all of us. >> johnny walters came to me and said the president's council has bought me a list of 50 names of people and wants a full-scale investigation. that's an unpleasant thing to have happen to you. >> shortly after the farewell speech, al haig, the chief of staff, called me.

he said we forgotten resignation letter. i would be glad to read it. >he said, it no, you need to write it. >> for the players at, the key people from that era held a story themselves. so i thought the best way to do this was to start the video oral history program that involved the knicks' players but also players in the water great drama on the left and right to have them tell the story and then use portions of that story in the newseum to let visitors understand the complexity of the constitutional drama. >> the former head of the nixon presidential library, tonight at 8:00 on "q&a" on c-span.

>> they put us in a field. someone took a shot and i went down. i think there were something like 96 tanks. each one would fire into the group. they came around. anyone who was moaning, they shot. >> to put it simply, near this town in belgium, 150 were made captive. 84 then were then shot down by ss forces that captured them. the survivors, including ted, played dead in the field after they were fired on by machine guns at close range, a distance of myself at the podium to use sitting in the audience. machine guns were fired at these men. they did not run. they fell to the ground. >> december 17, 1944, an american convoy traveling through belgium if it is spotted and captured by german troops. this author and the survivor on

the massacre. sunday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific, part of american history tv, this weekend on c- span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome another former governor and now the senator from maine, angus king, guest: an independent good morning, steeper decline of you have had this morning are 100% of the senate's moustache caucus. john told me i had doubled the percentage of moustaches in the caucus. host: day two on the job. guest: i worked here in the 1970's as a staffer in the senate. to come back and find yourself a u.s. senator is an amazing and somewhat surreal experience, to be on the senate floor and have people say good morning, senator, i look around and say

who are they talking to a? it's pretty exciting. it is an important time and i am just delighted to be here and looking forward to getting to work. host: you talked about this a lot in maine. why did you want? why did you want to be in the senate? guest: olympia snowe announced she was leaving because she was frustrated she cannot get anything done and was frustrated and had had it. i thought, i am an independent, i have governed as an independent, i have a background in trying to bring parties together, and maybe we need to try a different way. that is what provoked me to jump into this election. host: let me share with you and the thought of a professor at ucla. she talked about the filibuster issue, which will be first and foremost one of the big administrative issues you will

face in the u.s. senate. she says -- guest: i don't know about the motivations, but essentially that is what is happening. what is important for people to realize is the filibuster has been used exponentially more frequently in the last four or five years than it has throughout american history. when lyndon johnson was majority leader he dealt with on a filibuster. harry reid has dealt with 386. it's totally different situation. my concern is we've gotta get something done. we've gotta problems facing this country. we cannot just lock up -- in maine they say the old engine is seized up, it will not go. we cannot have our political system seized up at the time

you're facing so many serious problems. so i think it is one of the things that absolutely has to be addressed and addressed in a balanced way. i had the unique experience of going around as an independent and talking to a whole range -- i have talked to 30 senators one-on-one over the last couple weeks, and hearing from republicans and democrats, their view of this issue. the republicans a we have used filibuster a lot, but it's because the democrats have not allowed us to amend legislation. we've not been involved in the formation of legislation, so we had to defend ourselves. so there has to be a package that involves filibuster reform but also opening up legislation to amendment. taking it back one step further, the democrats will say the reason we have limited amendments is the republicans put in these amendments that are poison pill designed to embarrass us, to force embarrassing votes. it is sort of like, who fired

the first shot, everybody forgot. we have to make the system work or otherwise we cannot deal with serious problems facing. facing the country. host: how unusual is it for you to have met with 30 senators? guest: i don't know, but we have to have relationships and you've got to meet people. there was a week of orientation we had a right after the election. selection of committees and talk about prayer to live and what the rules are and that sort of thing. i took that occasion to meet with many of the senators one- on-one. then my wife and i came down for a week in december, but meetings. i have met with 30 senators. i think it's 11 republicans and 19 democrats. it was a very illuminating. illuminating i will try to meet them all in the next month or so. host: one of those meetings

with the president of the senate, we will come back to that in a moment. years when harry reid said yesterday on the senate floor, on the filibuster rule. [video clip] >> in the waning weeks of the last congress we were occupied with matters including the fiscal cliff. madame chair, i believe this matter warrants additional debate in the hundred 13 congress, which just started -- the 113 congress. -- 113th. i will reserve the right to oppose changes to the senate rules. it is my intention that the senate will recess to continue the same legislative day. madam president, i am confident as a republican leader and i can come to agreement to allow the senate to work more efficiently. host: let's go back to the point of fixing the filibuster, can

that happen? guest: i hope he's right. i know those discussions are going on. over the last month there have also been discussions involving carl levin and chuck schumer and lamar alexander. there's a lot of talk about how to do something about this. my concern is that it turns into something real that will help the system and the senate to move forward. you cannot get to any of these major problems, whether it's health care or the deficit or forming the tax code unless the institution itself works. i think that's why these discussions are so important. i am delighted to know and was aware of these discussions were going on and i hope they can come to some arrangement. i cannot handicap it, but i think it's going to be tough, but necessary. host: your at the white house about to meet with vice president joe biden and you told a newspaper what?

guest: it was funny. we were going to have lunch, my wife and i and my brother-in- law. we were sitting in the waiting room in the west wing, had an appointment for lunch with the vice president and a voice in the doorway said, king herman, party of 4. it was the vice president of the united states. joe biden came into the senate the same year i came in as a staff member. he was 29 years old at the time. he and i are exactly the same age. he had to wait a few months to be sworn in because he was too young to be sworn in to be a u.s. senator. host: this was the scene yesterday. what was your reaction at the ceremony? guest: i leaned over to him and said thank you for what you did over the weekend. i think he was indispensable over the weekend to bring these

discussions to fruition. that was my comment to him. he is a gregarious guy. again, it goes back to what i said at the beginning. the fact that he was there to step been and complete the negotiations was in large measure based on his relationship with mitch mcconnell going back 25 or 30 years. that is so important in being able to get things done. host: how many people came for your swearing-in? guest: i have two grandchildren and three of my five children, and mary's brothers and we had the whole gang. host: the vice president was talking to your aunt? guest: aunt patsy was a state

senator in virginia many years. so he was chatting with her. that's my son and gusts and his wife cricket and my daughter-in- law family. josh, a grandson, my wonderful wife mary, my daughter molly, a friend corinne, sister bunny, lives in hampton, virginia. we had the whole gang. host: let's take your phone calls with independent senator angus king of maine. his first appearance on the washington journalas the senator from maine. now, on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i have two comments. number one, why is the senate and house -- what do i want to say -- doing with the lobbyists?

why do we have to negotiate with lobbyists before we get to do anything? no. two, why don't you just pass one bill instead of a multitude of bills with a multitude of amendments? only if the amendment and years to the bill itself, no other amendments should be added on to its. thank you. guest: as far as lobbyists, i don't think there's a lot of negotiation with lobbyists. lobbyists represent all manner of groups. lobbyists has a negative connotation, but it can be somebody representing a business interest or a whole group of business interests. it can also be somebody representing the girl scouts or the environmental groups or citizens' groups across the country. it is a way you get information. they don't tell you what to do, but they provide information and often you get the best information when you have conflicting people who are sort of competing to give you different points of view, and then you can listen and you

listen to your constituents, you read, you get information from all kinds of places. you cannot cut off citizen access to the legislature, whether it is organized or not. in terms of amendments, i agree. i don't think we should have amendments that are irrelevant or have nothing to do with the bill at hand. on the other hand, the amendment process is important, because that's how you improve the bill. that's how you improve the quality of the bill. one of my life principles is that all costs have better thoughts than one of us. -- all of us have better talks than one of us. it's through listening to each other's ideas that you end up with the best result. sometimes the amendment process can be abused, but it is an important part of the process, because you have to assume if whatever comes out in the first

stages can always be improved. host: on facebook -- guest: well, you had a caller before i was here talking about the debt limit. there was some confusion. the debt limit does not look forward, it looks back. the debt limit is allowing or creating the opportunity to pay the deficit that the country has already incurred, the congress, the president, and the country has already incurred. to take the debt limit hostage is inappropriate, because it puts at risk the full faith and

credit of the united states, which would have catastrophic consequences marikana. we don't have to guess about this. 2011, when there was a long argument about the debt limit, you can look at job creation and growth of gdp. it took a hit during that time. you can see it rather clearly. in talking to many of my colleagues, and i've come to this recently, but i think needs to be some kind of balanced budget amendment on spending. i'm not sure the debt limit is the appropriate place, because the stakes are so high for the overall u.s. economy. spending is going down slightly, as a matter of fact. and the deficit is going down slightly in 2012, but the gap is still too great. that's what we have to focus on, the gap between revenues and spending, so we can make some sense of this fiscal situation,

because it is really not fair to our kids. that's what bothers me. host: a graduate of dartmouth college, also from university of virginia law school. you are no stranger to a television studio. guest: i used to do what you are doing, in maine. i was the jim lehrer of maine for about 16 years, the host of a show which was a public affairs. i used to moderate candidate debates for the u.s. senate and for governor. " ultimately, i left that in the early 1990's and ran for governor as an independent. host: roger is joining us from seattle on our republican line. caller: i have a question with regard to illegal immigration. i was wondering if any economist has done a side-by-side comparison to the cost of making illegal immigration -- making those immigrants legal and

thereby supporting the growing aging population through taxes and what effect that might have. to me it seems a little more pragmatic to look at an overall view, kind of like ronald reagan did and marco rubio and people like that. i will listen off the air. guest: roger, i don't have a comprehensive answer to immigration accept i think we really need to look at it series links and i hope this might be the year. i think we have a tremendous opportunity here to act of the vitality of our economy. the problem i think a lot of people have -- and you used the term "illegal immigration," you don't want to reward illegal activity. on the other hand, many and people are here only because they were born here. they did not do anything illegal. that's the dream act, where it's

the young people go to college or if they serve in the military, they have a path to citizenship. that's a place to start. then we need to talk about those people here illegally and figure out how to deal with that in a comprehensive and humane way. this is a country of immigrants accept for the native americans. everybody here, you and i and everybody is watching this morning came here from somewhere else. some legally. i suspect, some not legally. i have no idea how my ancestors got here. i think it's time to address this issue and. i hope this congress may be a time we can do so. host: and this -- guest: i think it should go as high as it needs to go in order to accommodate what has already been committed. then me to start scaling it back. i don't want to come across, because i said i don't think the debt ceiling should be a

hostage, as being unconcerned about this issue. in fact, i am a hawk on this issue. i'm a simpson-bowles kind of guy. we have to address this. i'm just not sure the debt ceiling is the poor police, because if you are playing russian roulette with the u.s. and perhaps the world economy. i understand the frustration of people who say if we don't do that, how are we going to do its? there's gotta be some outside pressure involved in making -- forcing these changes. steve, what happened last weekend with this fiscal cliff and the bill that passed, it was it is aut it, but-- -- tiny piece of the solution. it did not do much. when happened this past weekend was the easy part. the hard part is going to be serious spending cuts and perhaps some additional revenue, not from raising rates but from rebuilding the tax code in a more fair and rational way and bringing the debt down.

host: we have been going through a number of opinion pieces along those lines. this is what paul krugman writes this morning in the new york times -- guest: i think that's an overstatement. i think there is a narrower

debate going on and that is what is the progress shape and size of government? you can break it down into the numbers. right now the government's, the federal government is spending about 23% of gdp, of gross domestic product. the revenues are about 16% of gdp. the difference between the 16 and the 23 is the deficit. that is what is killing us. that's almost a trillion dollars a year. that's what we have to bring under control. i really think the debate between the parties is about what is the precise. maybe there are some echoes of republican resistance to the new deal and those kinds of things, but that assumes the republicans are a monolith and the democrats are monolith. i think there are many opinions. i think there are people in the republican party who would repeal the new deal, but others

feel it is an important part of the legacy of this country. and think of important to focus on what are the numbers, what is the gap, and how do we bring them together. to go back to historical levels the past 50 or 60 years, expenditures or 20% of gdp and taxes were 18%, there were small deficits and at the end of the clinton administration there were some surpluses. we need to return to some level of balance. we will continue to have this argument about what is the proper level of social support, health care and those kinds of things. host: senator angus king, independence from maine. we welcome our listeners on c- span radio. you can send us an e-mail. or join us on facebook or twitter. lee is joining us from massachusetts, independent line. go ahead, please. caller: hello, senator. i would like to know what the i would like to know what the